A juror fainted as she heard how a vulnerable woman died after a “perverted sexual assault” in which a shampoo bottle was forced up into her abdominal cavity.

Majella Lynch, 51, suffered an infection and died in hospital after the brutal attack by Daniel McBride at her basement flat in Southampton, Winchester crown court was told.

At the start of the hearing, Mr Justice Akenhead warned the jury it might find the details of the case “shocking and distressing”.

The juror collapsed in her seat as the 400ml shampoo bottle, which had been given to Lynch by support workers, was shown to the court.

A male juror called for assistance and the case was halted but as the woman was being led from the court, she collapsed again on the floor. Another female juror came to her aid, saying she was a nurse, and the court was cleared.

Majella Lynch, 51, died of an infection in hospital following the assault. Photograph: Hampshire Police/PA

Following a 20-minute adjournment, the jury was brought back to court. Akenhead told them: “Thank you for your understanding and assistance. The young lady has been released to go home to take it easy.

“All things being equal she will be fine but there’s no use risking her health. Please do drink water if you think it will help. If any of you do feel woozy, do wave at me or someone to get their attention.”

William Mousley QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Lynch was taken to hospital on 18 April last year after she was found at home by carers suffering “severe abdominal pain”.

He said that medical staff examined her and found a full 400ml shampoo bottle in her abdominal cavity.

Mousley said the presence of the bottle would have been “extremely painful”. He said: “She was reluctant to say what had caused this terrible pain, either denying that anything had happened to her or refusing to answer when asked the question but she did confirm to the nurses she saw in hospital she had been assaulted. She was obviously very scared.”

He said it would not have been possible for her to force the bottle inside herself. The barrister said: “The bottle could not have been self inserted because of the extreme pain such an act would have caused. There is no suggestion she would have wanted to cause harm or that she sought any sexual gratification from such an act.”

The bottle was removed through surgery but Lynch did not recover and died on 20 April from an infection.

Mousley said Lynch was a “chronic drinker who had a chaotic lifestyle which left her vulnerable”. She had suffered a fall which reduced her mobility, so she spent a lot of her time in or around her flat.

He said she was visited at home by support workers who had given her the shampoo to help with her personal hygiene. Because she was lonely, she would invite passers-by into her home at all hours of the night, the court heard.

The prosecutor said that in the weeks leading up to her death there seemed to be an improvement in her circumstances. She started looking after herself and her home better, started taking medication and was keeping to a planned drinking regime.

McBride, 43, of Southampton, Hampshire, denies murder.

But Mousley said: “Nobody else could have been responsible for this perverted sexual assault. He had an interest in violent sexual activity and was in the mood for sex that night having had an argument with his girlfriend and being rejected by another female. He had also been drinking and taking drugs.”

Describing McBride, Mousley said he was a “stocky, well-built man” who admitted injecting steroids. He said McBride had told an acquaintance he enjoyed sex with older women and in April last year he had viewed “extreme violent pornography”.

When he was arrested, McBride repeatedly denied having ever been at Lynch’s home. He admitted he was drunk on the night and had taken a little cocaine but said this was a normal night out for him.

Mousley told the court that it was not until March this year that McBride claimed he had been passing Lynch’s flat when he heard her calling for help.

He said he went to her aid and called her an ambulance after she complained of having a sore stomach caused by a man upstairs.

McBride then claimed to have taken some cocaine in her flat, before leaving with a bag of beer that Lynch had insisted he take with him.

Mousley claimed he had “invented his defence” when he was faced with evidence that he had been in the flat.

The juror who fainted was one of two spare members of the jury who had been selected in case a problem arose with the main 12.